Tuesday, March 17, 2020

Charlotte Amalie, USVI
18.20.072N
64.55.483W

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Today was not only busy but also productive.  Gerry and Nicky came over about 9 am and then the boys took off for marine chandleries while Nicky and I caught up some more.  Also, I was tasked with contacting the marina we had intended to stay at during hurricane season as neither one of our boats had heard back from our original correspondences.  I was able to call the marina we had chosen, but I was directed to once again use the website to complete the reservation paperwork.  I sent an e-mail to them as I was directed.  Then, just to make sure we were covered, I contacted a second marina to have a Plan B, but this time, I was told that Trinidad was closed to any non-nationals until further notice.  The first marina had never mentioned that little tidbit.  Now what?  Since, there was nothing more I could do in that direction, I put it aside hoping that things will sort itself out by June.  I’ll keep sending e-mails. 

In the meantime, I could tell where the guys were by the pinging on my telephone detailing each purchase where our credit card had been used.  At about 11am, we thought we heard the guys returning but instead we were being hailed by Gene and Renee off Texas Crewed who are in the next harbor over with Rum Truffel. It was great to introduce some of our oldest friends to our newest friends.  Once the guys did return, we all decided to head into town for Roti’s.  Dale had a hankering for Roti’s the way I had for pinchos.  Roti’s are an East Indian street fare.  Sort of like curried chicken and potatoes in a burrito type of wrap.  They were delicious.  Then we all crossed the street to the tea shop to have tea for the ladies and beer for the guys.  Mine was a blend of green tea, white tea, mint and jasmine teas.  It was delicious and needed no sweetner.  I might have to go back there again. 

After that, we waddled back to our dinks and back to our boats.  Dale and Gerry ran the new line for the jib halyard but had a hard time trying to figure out the main sheet as it had to run through the bottom of the roller furling boom.  Apparently, the fish tape would only go so far before it would jam up.  So that task got put aside as well. 

Dale was able to order new batteries for the boat.  He had considered purchasing them before we left but I dragged my feet on it thinking that they hadn’t been used that much regardless of how old they were.  I was proven wrong and before they really go into the dumper, he wanted them replaced while we can at a reasonable price. 

The next task came about because Gerry and Nicky had seen a line coming from the bottom of our boat when they originally approached us in the morning, so once they returned to their boat, Dale grabbed a knife and jumped in to see what he could do to cut it loose.  He was able to get the majority of it off but there was a portion tightly wound around the shaft of the propeller that he couldn’t cut off no matter which direction he chose to attack it from.  As the prop was turning freely, he elected to leave the last bit on.  We’ll see what happens next on that decision.  Hopefully it will wear off and disappear.  If not, we’ll try a different approach when we have the boat hauled for bottom paint. 

We ended the day heading into the cruise dock terminal where we had dinner at a sports bar.  There are no cruise ships, so we might as well take advantage of it.  As it was pub fare and placed in to-go bags, we figured this was how they were getting around the “no more than 10, 25, 50” (depending upon which news you listened to) people in a gathering.  They couldn’t help it if we all decided to sit and eat at their tables.  We did notice that the police did come and speak with the bar tender but no action was taken with regard to moving us all along. 

Tomorrow will be more of the same, trying to check off as many items of our to do list as possible.  Until then . . .